Coal-loader.



D. B. STAUFT.

COAL LOADER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6. I917.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

A TTORNEYS .D B. STAUFT.

COAL LOADER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6. 1917.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTORNEYS WITNESSES permit. n's'raur'r, or umon'rown, rnmvsrrv COAL-LOADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov; 13, 191?.

Application filed January 6, 1917. Serial No. 140,919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL B. STAUET, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Uniontown, in the county of Fayette and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Coal-Loader,

exact description.

This invention relates to coal handling devices or the like and has particular reference to mechanical means for gathering and conveying coal from the ground and delivering it into mine cars or the like.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a machine of a substantially selfcontained nature or one which carries. its

own power devices, the same being designed particularly for operation in coal mines where the amount of head and side room is comparatively limited or restricted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coal gathering, conveying or loading machine which is mounted upon a railway truck and so constructed that it may be positioned and inclined for the purpose'of gathering the coal from a low level, as the bottom of the mine, and conveyance thereof to a higher position for dumping into a mine car or flat-car. and at the same time providing for the tilting of the main parts of the machine around an intermediate horizontal axis, so as to facilitate the transportation thereof along the tram car tracks and around comparatively sharp curves or angles. v,

A still further object is to provide a coal-handling machine having a comparativelybroad receiving mouth or pan so as to gather coal from both sides of the'track as well as along the center thereof, such pan construction, however, being provided with lateral wings or sections hinged along lines parallelto the direction of movement of the machine .or truck, thus facilitating the folding of the, machine into a comparatively narrow compass for transportation purpom when out of use.

-A. still further object of this invention is to provide a coal-handling machine mounted upon a' truck carrying thev prime mover, through the operation of which the gathering and conveying portions of the machine are operated ant also through which the truck and machine as a whole may be progressed forcibly forwardly at a. low speed 00- incidentally ery of coal. Vhile I refer in this specification to coal as the medium to be handled, I wish it to be understood that the field of usefulness for the machine is not to be so limited in of which the following is. a full, clear, and

practice, inasmuch as it is adapted for the handling of gravel, ballast, broken stone,-

snow, ice, grain or various other commodities. I wish to observe also. that the details with the gathering and delivment and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed. and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein. still for the purpose of illustratingv a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure lis a plan view showing the machine in operative position;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the machine tilted or adjusted for transportation;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section indicating the gathering means in operative position. the section being on the broken line 14; of Figfl;

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the machine with the conveyer tilted to approximately horizontal position, as indicated in Fig. 3, but preliminary to the tilting of the gathering means to the position of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of one end of the gathering pan showing one of the foldable wings and the relation of'the driv ing mechanism for the feeder wheels thereto: and

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the main drive shaft and parts associated therewith.

In the practical adaptation "of this machine, I show a truck comprising a frame 10 supported upon the wheels 11 adapted to be rolled upon track rails 12 or the like. The frame 10 is shown supplied with-a motor M of any convenient type. of which 13 indicates the main driving shaft.

. uponpedestals 32 on thetruck frame. These Any suitable meaifismay be provided to propel the truck in either direction along the track. The means I show forjpropelling the same forwardly along the direction of excavation or gathering of the coal includes a pair of spools 14 secured upon a shaft journaled transversely across the frame in or adjacent to the motor casing and driven at low speed through any suitable intermediate veyed by the endless conveyer belt, shown as comprising an endless series of flights 22secured to sprocket chains 23. For the convenience of transportation, the conveyer frame is preferably jointed intermediate of its ends, as indicatedat 24, providing an auxiliary section 25, the head wheel 26 of which is provided with tension means 27 of any suitable or well known construction in the conveyer art. lass 28 is carried upon the rearend of the main section of the conveyer frame and by means of cables '29 anchored at their outer ends to the auxiliary section or a vchute 30- secured thereto, the auxiliary section and chute are swung intooperative position.

The middle portion of the conveyer frame is suitably stiffened or reinforced and swung upon a transverse axis. The sidebars of the conveyer frame are mounted tiltably upon oppositely alined thimbles 31 fixed thimbles provide bearings for the main drive shaft 33 which extends through the thimbles and beyond the same at both ends. At one end of the shaft is mounted a sprocket wheel 34 having a chain or belt connection 35 with a wheel 36 secured to the motor shaft 13, whereby the main drive shaft 33 is rotated. This wheel34 may be clutched to the shaft by means of a clutch 37 of any suitable type, and adjacent to this clutch is another sprocket wheel 38 adapted to be secured to the shaft through a hand-operated clutch 39. From the wheel'38 there leads a conveyer drive chain or belt 40 to the wheel 41 secured to the shaft 42; at the joint of the conveyer, and to the other end of this shaft is secured a wheel 43 having a drive belt 44 leading to the sprocket wheel45 carried at the head shaft 26 of -the auxiliary section 25. By this means the conveyer is operated from the motor. At the other end of the main driving shaft same time.

A hand-operated windsupporting track of the pan,

with the line rai ers is a sprocket wheel, from which a chain 47 leads to a sprocket wheel 48 mounted upon a transverse shaft 49 journaled in the conveyer frame. On' the opposite end of this shaft is fixed a sprocketwheel 50 from which is operated a sprocket chain 51. The wheel 46 is shown as being connected to the shaft through a clutch 52 made effective by a hand wheel 53 threaded upon the shaft. On the opposite side of the hand wheel is another clutch 54, through which the hand wheel,- when operated in. the opposite direction along the shaft, serves to secure another sprocket wheel 55 to the shaft. A sprocket chain 56 leads from this wheel to a larger sprocket wheel 57 associated with one of the truck wheels, and whereby the truck will be transported along the track when the coal gathering means is not in'operation. The wheel 57 is secured either to the rear axle or to the wheel adjacent thereto and from theother end of. the sameaxle, a chain 58 operating over gears 59 and 60 on both axles, causes both axles to rotate positively at the u The pedestals 32 above referred to in connection with the mounting of the main-driving shaft are secured upon a bolster 61 which may be essentially duplicated adjacent to the rear end of the truck frame.

These bolsters are each supported upon a rocker 62 in the natureof a curved rack rolling upon a straight rack '63 secured to the main truck frame 10. By this means the conveyer frame is given free rocking movement for automatic leveling irrespective of the exact condition or contour of the main The manner of mounting. the conveyer frame upon the pedestals, furthermore, insures that the conveyer may be tilted into any desired position around the axis of the shaft 33 without interfering in any manner with the operation of ing. means associated with said shaft,

Among the principal/features of noveltyand importance in this loading end of the conveyer. The gathering means includes a substantially flat pan-like 115 full width of the operation or of an extent materially greaterv than the widest portion of the machineotherwise. I therefore provide a hinged wing or section 66 at each end the .same being hinged at 67. each pair of hinges together of connection between the main portion of the pan and the hinged portion is parallel to. the longer axis of the conveyer The axle of and'lies substantially in the vertical plane 13 0 the drivmachine is the construction of the gathering: means for the ground, and beneath the pile of coal. This pan 64 hasa length transversely of j V the machine substantially as great as the 120 of the rail on that side of the'machine. The

framework of the pan portion includes a pair of brackets 68. Each wing'66 is secured to a bracket 68 and is adapted to swing there-with around the axis of the hinges 67 with respect to the main portion of the pan. The bracket 68 includes, in addition to the main backbone or rib portion, a plate 68 arranged in spaced parallel relation to the main portion of the bracket, see Figs. & and 5. The plate 6.3 and the main portion of the bracket are provided with bearing holes 69 and 70, the latter being fitted with a bushing 71, and inthese bearing holes is journaled a shaft 72. having at one end a head T3 with a round shoulder Tl ournaled in the hole 69. Adjacent tothe round shoulder is a polygonal portion 75. upon which is fitted a worm gear 76. Xext is formed a round reduced portion T7 journaled in the bushing 71 and then in turn is another polvgonal portion 78 upon which is fitted one of the feeder wheels 79 in the nature of 'a star wheel having a series of substantially radial arms 80. each fitted with a claw or digger 81. having a point directed toward the direction of movement of the claw. Each claw is locked removablyin place by means of a set screw 82. or its equivalent, extending through the arm onits rearyside.

83 indicates a worm shaft to the opposite ends of which are secured a pair of right and left hand worms S4; and '85 meshing with the respective worm gears 76 and whereby the worm gears and the feeder wheels "4'9 are driven positively in opposite directions, orso that the arms of the wheels directed toward each other sweep over the pan rear wardly toward the conveyer. By this means the coal loosened by the diggers or claws and conveyed toward the center of the pan and thence rearwardly will be delivered through an opening 86 at the center of the rear portion of the pan directly upon the conveyer, where the material will be engaged by' the flights 22 and thence carried rearwardly and dumped into the car. The shaft 83 is driven from the above described chain 51 through a sprocket gear 87.

The feeder wheels being fixed in position upon the shaft 72 and movable with the shafts and brackets 68 around the longitudinal axes of the hinges 6?, always have a fixed position with respectto said brackets and hinges. As seen best in Fig. 6, the body of the pan 6t is cut away at 88 beneath the imperforate central body portion of each wheel 79 to provide a clearance for the bracket and worm wheel 76 to swing upwardly through the bottom of the pan to enable the feeder wheels and wing sections 66 to assume a vertical position. as indicated in Fig. 3. In normal operating position the feeder wheels lie closely over and parallel to the plane of the pan, where they are held by gravity and the interlocking or intermeshing engagement between the worms and the worm gears 76, it being noted that the center of gravity of each of the feeder wheel structures lies between the axis of the hinges 67 and the center of the conveyer. When, however, the feeder wheels are tilted to their upright position, the center of gravity then is shifted to the outside of the axis of screw 91 is in threaded engagement with one of the slidable blocks '89 and the rear end a of the screw is provided with a beveled gear 93. 9% indicates a crank shaft carrying a crank at one end and havinga pair of beveled gears 93 secured thereon and meshing in the same relationwith the beveled gears 93. By rotation of this crank 95 'and shaft 9f, the blocks89 are moved simultaneously in the same direction with the shaft 83 and worms toward or from the worm gears 76. Thus by rotation of the crank in one direction. the worms are withdrawn from contact with the worm gears, setting the feeder wheel devices free to be tilted to their upright position. When, however, they are returned from their upright position the movement of the crank in the opposite direction returns the worms into mesh with the worm gears at any desired degree oftightness. At the back portion of the pan structure is located a stiffening member 96, having an opening 97 at its center through which the coal is conveyed. This stiffening member serves to brace the main conveyer frame at tthis point, a more rigid support to the frame section to which the boxing for the shaft 67 is secured, and includes a transversely extending strong angle bar 98 bridging the'opening 97. I claim: i 1. In a coal loader, the combination of a conveyer frame, an endless conveyer opparallel to the conveyer, a pair of feeder wheels carried by said wing structures and tiltable therewith around said axes, and

' means to actuate hotnthe eonveyer and the to swing around axes parallel to the center line of the conveyer so as to occupy vertical '1 planes when out of operation, a pair of feeder wheels journaled upon and carried by the respective wing structures, means to actuate the conveyer, and means to actuate the feeder wheels in opposite directions with their adjacent portions movable rearwardly over the pan toward veyer. 7, V p

3. In a coal loader, the combination with a frame, a conveyer operating over the frame, and power means to actuate thereonveyer, of gathering means carried by the front end of the conveyer frame, said gathera pan lying over the ing means including receiving end of the conveyer, a section of i the pan being tiltable aroundlan axis parallel to the 'conveyer, and a feeder wheel journaled upon said tilting section and tiltable therewith from horizontal to vertical position,and means to drive the feeder wheel when in relatively horizontal position from the aforesaid power means. r

4. In a coal loader, the combination with a main support, power means thereon, a conveyer operating over said support, and means to actuate the conveyer from the ,power means, ofgatliering means carried the center oflthe conineaeve at the front end of the conveyer and including a pan-like structure having a central opening at its rear portion over the conveyer, and a pair of feeder Wheels operating in opposite directions in the same plane over the pan and toward said opening, and

means to actuate the feeder wheels from- 'over and means to actuate the conveyer, 'of gathering means for the conveyer comprising a pan like structure arranged over and parallel to the receiving end of the conveyer and having an opening to deliver the coal upon the conveyer, said pan structure including opposite end wings, a pair of brackets carrying said wings and hinged to the main portion of the pause as to swing with the wings into vertical planes for transportation, the center of gravity of the wing structures being outside of their axes when the wings are verticalfbut inside or between the axes of thewingswhen in 0perative position, 'a pair of driving shafts journaled in said brackets, a Worm gear mounted upon each. drive shaft within, a bracket, a feeder wheel mounted upon the, upper endlof each shaft, a pair of worms, means to adjust the worms into mesh with the worm gears when the worm gears-are in. operative position, and means to drive the worms.

DANIEL B.i'STAUFT. 

